Curative petition is the next step for December 16 gangrape convicts

December 16 gangrape case: If the curative petition is also rejected then only a mercy petition can be filed, where the President of India will take a call on the basis of the opinion given by the home ministry

The convicts in the Delhi’s December 16 gangrape case have one more legal option left to get the Supreme Court to relook at death sentences handed out to them in 2017 -- the curative petition.

A three-judge bench delivered its judgment on the pleas of Mukesh (left), Vinay Sharma (centre) and Pawan Gupta. (HT file photo)

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the review petition filed by three of the four convicts in the case saying, “there was no error in the judgment.”

Curative petitions can be filed in the top court challenging the death penalty on the grounds that there is some evidence or a point of law that has not be argued by the convicts in the past.

If this petition is also rejected then only a mercy petition can be filed.

Mercy petitions are addressed to the President of India who takes a call on the basis of the opinion given by the home ministry.

How does a curative petition work

The top court has outlined certain specific conditions for filing a curative petition.

* The petitioner will have to establish that there was a genuine violation of principles of natural justice.

* The petition is to be sent to the three senior-most judges and judges of the bench who passed the judgment affecting the petition.

* If the majority of the judges on the above bench agree that the matter needs hearing, then it would be sent to the same bench (as far as possible).

* The court could impose “exemplary costs” to the petitioner if his plea lacks merit.